1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connecting block or wire retaining block for mechanically securing wires to a substructure and for interconnecting corresponding wires. This invention is also related to the installation of electrical wiring systems in motor vehicles, for the example the installation of wiring harnesses in the headliner of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Installation of wire harness in motor vehicles is often complicated by the need to place the wire harnesses within a confined space. One example is the installation of wire harnesses along the roof or ceiling of an automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,391 discloses an electrical connector in which wires can be terminated to insulation displacement terminal having multiple wire receiving slots. One use of an electrical connector of this type is to mount wires in wiring harnesses in the headliner of an automobile. Individual wires are laced into a first temporary wire retaining section of the electrical connector. After a number of wires are laced into position in first temporary wire restraining sections aligned with corresponding wire receiving slots, all of the wires may be subsequently mass terminated to connector terminals with multiple wire receiving slots. Once the wires, and wiring harnesses, are terminated to the connector, the connector can then be mounted on a substructure, such as an automobile headliner. Snap latches on a connector of this type can be snapped into engagement with locking means on the substructure or headliner to mount the terminated connector.
There are several practical problems to the use of a prior art electrical connector of this type to mount a plurality of wires, often in cumbersome wiring harnesses, on a substructure, such as an automobile headliner. Lacing the wires into the connector prior to mass termination means that the connector, with multiple wiring harnesses attached, must be mounted into a mass termination tool. The terminated connector must then be removed from the termination fixture and then mounted to the headliner, which means that the connector must be manipulated into position with wires and wiring harnesses draped from the terminated connector. If the connector is snapped to the substructure, the connector will protrude from the substructure. Inclusion of snap locks into the substructure will also add height to the substructure, and the resultant assembly will be relatively thick, especially in the vicinity of the terminated electrical connector. It will then be difficult to position the relatively bulky structure in a confined space, and structures such as automobile headliners should preferably be as thin as possible to fit within as small a space as possible. Practical implementation of an assembly of this type also requires the use of a separate spring retainer clip, and the assembly must be mounted in a separate pan that is in turn mounted in the headliner.
Another approach to assembling a wiring harness in the ceiling of an automobile is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,939. In that approach harness connectors and harness clips, referred to as cramps, are snapped into holes in a roof module prior to assembly of the roof module into the automobile ceiling. Bonding tape is also used to secure the harness to the ceiling. The use of doubled sided adhesive tape to secure a wiring harness in a roof module or ceiling is also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,096. Typically bonding tape is used as part of an on-line assembly of the wires or wiring harnesses in an automobile. However, offline assembly of the wiring harness to the headliner or similar substructure would be preferable.
An electrical connector according to this invention is used to common wires and to mount the wires on a substructure, such as an automotive headliner. The electrical connector includes a molded housing with a cavity formed by side walls with channels extending through the side wall. One or more insulation displacement terminals are mounted in the cavity and secured to the molded housing. Each insulation displacement terminal includes multiple wire receiving slots aligned with the channels extending though the walls. Each insulation displacement terminal commons multiple wires received within its wire receiving slots. Wire retention members are molded as part of the housing on an exterior surface of the side walls. Each wire retention member is positioned to prevent extraction of a wire from the wire receiving slot and from the channel after the wire has been terminated to the insulation displacement terminal.
Such a connector can be used as part of an assembly to mount wires in a plurality of wire harnesses to the surface of a substructure, such as an automobile headliner. As used in this manner, the electrical connector can include a plurality of insulation displacement terminals mounted end to end within the cavity in the molded housing. Each insulation displacement terminal includes a plurality of wire receiving slots exposed on an open face of the molded housing bounded in part by side walls of the cavity. A connector-receiving trough is located on a surface of the substructure to which the wire harnesses are to be mounted. The connector receiving trough is dimensioned to receive the molded housing and forms a reservoir for containing an adhesive, such as a holt melt adhesive, to secure the electrical connector to the substructure.
A method of mounting wiring harnesses on a substructure and of commoning wires in separate wiring harness includes several steps. Individual wires in multiple wiring harnesses are mounted in a termination fixture with a series of grooves in which the individual wires are mounted. The electrical connector, with multiple insulation displacement terminals, is mounted with terminal slots in alignment with a respective one of the grooves on the termination fixture. Wires in aligned wire receiving slots are terminated by compressing the termination fixture relative to the electrical connector. Adhesive is applied between the electrical connector, with wires terminated therein, and the substructure to adhesively secure the electrical connector to the substructure and to mount the electrical connector to the substructure, such as an automobile headliner.